I was born in Spain so that my mum could be close to her family at the time of my birth, but my parents were living in Bolivia at the time. So it wasn't long (3 weeks old) before we were off to live Bolivia. I don' remember it, I was only wee. But that was my upbringing. Travel.
My dad works for an oil company (no he is not a drug dealer despite the rumours I thought were funny to spread when I was a teenager living in the US) and we spent an average of 2.5 years in a place. I'm incredibly grateful for the rich experiences that I've had as a child. Seeing the world, all of our differences and all of the things that drive us together. At times, it was easy and I'd made friends in a day. Other times, it took a lot longer to adjust. But that's something I'm good at: adapting. Change comes quickly for me and it's not something I fear.
I don't like the term Third Culture Kid because there are connotations around the phrase about not knowing where you're from. That's always been very clear to me: I'm half Spanish and half Scottish. Both. I was lucky that we always tried to go back to Spain or Scotland when we had school holidays and that our families tie us to the places we call home.
But nonetheless I still consider myself a creature of the world. I'm always asked what my favourite place to live has been and it' an impossible question. It's never the place but the people that make up an experience. If you can't connect with people it doesn't matter if you live in the most beautiful place on the planet.
But in case you'e interested here's my life in places (and pictures)…
…ok so not that part of California.